In the field of network broadcasting applications, memory systems are used in which data records, such as video films or pieces of music, are stored in respective memories. In this context, it has been usual to date to equip a memory system with a comparatively large number of hard disk memories (“hard disk clusters”), which can store a large volume of data at comparatively low costs. A plurality of users can, particularly, using a network connection, retrieve various data records or the same data record, to which end the appropriate hard disk memory is addressed. A particular feature of network broadcasting applications in this context is that an identical data record, for example in the form of a video film or piece of music, is retrieved in a firmly prescribed order (“video-audio on demand”). There is thus no random access to the memory system.
A drawback of such memory systems, which use a large number of hard disk memories for storing such data records, is that hard disk memories have a comparatively low data throughput and are limited in data access time. For example, when there are simultaneous requests from a plurality of users retrieving the same video film or the same piece of music at staggered times, for example, the hard disk memory, which has stored the data record in question, repeatedly needs to skip to various memory locations in order to provide the individual users sequentially with the data records requested at staggered times. This results, in particular, in such a memory system being greatly limited in the data throughput and in the data access time.
A memory system for network broadcasting applications, such as video/audio applications, which allows a higher data throughput and shorter access times, and a method for operating the same.